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al-Ma'mun Enters Egypt

دخول المأمون مصر

c. 831 CE · c. 216 AH

Egypt

In year 215 al-Ma'mun marched against the Byzantines, taking the fortresses Qurra and Majida, then went to Damascus; in 216 he returned and took several more. He then made for Egypt and entered it — the first Abbasid caliph ever to do so — before returning in 217 to Damascus and the frontier 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Egypt & Nile
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

820830840 c.
The Early Abbasid Caliphate

Overview

Al-Suyuti relates that al-Ma'mun set out in 215 AH to raid the Byzantines, took the fortress of Qurra by force and the fortress of Majida, then marched to Damascus. 2

Egypt

He returned in 216 AH to the Byzantines and took several fortresses, then went to Egypt and entered it. Al-Suyuti holds that he was the first Abbasid caliph to enter it. He then returned to Damascus and the Byzantine frontier in 217 AH. 2

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Abd Allah al-Ma'mun ibn Harun al-Rashid
Occurred at
Egypt

People and things also explored

Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· Census of the Descendants of al-Abbas in the Year 200· al-Ma'mun's designation of Ali al-Rida as heir· Clash of Tahir ibn al-Husayn with Ali ibn Isa· The Conquest of Crete· The Accession of Harun al-Rashid· The Division of the Caliphate among al-Rashid's Sons· Kabul Shah's Submission to al-Ma'mun

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 488
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.488
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Ma'mun Enters Egypt”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/mamun-egypt-entry/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom

The House of Wisdom at Baghdad, the greatest library whose report survives from the first Abbasid age: al-Rashid laid its nucleus and al-Ma'mun enlarged and strengthened it. Al-Rashid put Yuhanna ibn Masawayh over the translation of the ancient medical books found in Byzantine lands with skilled scribes writing before him; Abu Sahl al-Fadl ibn Nawbakht rendered Persian wisdom-books into Arabic in its khizana, and Allan al-Shu'ubi copied for al-Rashid, al-Ma'mun and the Barmakids. Al-Ma'mun widened it, sending to the Byzantine emperor for the ancient sciences an embassy of al-Hajjaj ibn Matar, Ibn al-Bitriq and Salm the master of the House, and making Sahl ibn Harun keeper of its treasuries — though its precise organisation and site remain wrapped in obscurity.